Area Community Groups Help Constituents Meet Obamacare Deadline

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — At community centers across Philadelphia, advocates were helping people meet today’s deadline for the first yearly signup period for insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

The waiting room was full this morning at Congreso de Latinos Unidos, one of the largest Hispanic nonprofits in the nation, at Somerset and American Streets in North Philadelphia. Nina, a single mother, had her two children near her as she got some guidance.

“They can’t get through on the phone, they can’t get through on the Internet, we can’t get the exact information, so we’re here where they can help us get that information,” she tells KYW Newsradio.

Congreso’s Jose Rivera (standing at right in photo) says that during the enrollment period which ends today, the Spanish-language version of the healthcare.gov web site had fewer problems than the English version, but the folks his organization serves had more problems navigating the health care system.

“If you talk about people like me, I’m used to doing open enrollment,” he notes, “and I work in the health care field. But I even have trouble with the open enrollment.”

Steve Tawa joined KYW Newsradio in 1990, and splits his time between reporting and anchoring.
He enjoys the mix of having a front row seat at stories that have been part of Philadelphia’s recent history, interviewing newsmakers, and pointing his...